Black Rail at Salton Sea, California
Black Rail at Salton Sea, California.-A Black Rail (Laterallus jamaicensis) was taken near Calipatria, Imperial County, adjacent to the Salton Sea, on January 5, 1947. This rail was cap tured alive and uninjured by a Chesapeake Retriever owned by me. It was found in a dense growth of green barley and wild oats at the edge of a fresh water pond while the dog was being used to hunt crippled ducks.
The black rail is fairly common in salt marshes along the coast and breeds in salt marshes near San Diego. It has been recorded inland at Chino, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Stockton. This record for the Imperial Valley is evidenlty the first record east of the desert divides in California.- JOHN LAUGHLIN, California Division of Fish and Game, Riverside, California, January 22, 1947.
